DRAFT Karl Marx & the Hunger Games

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Transcript of DRAFT Karl Marx & the Hunger Games

Who is Karl Marx?Born on May 5, 1818Trier, GermanyStudied Law at the University of Bonn

Studied Hegelianism at the University of BerlinQuestioned idealism and abstract thought of philosophyFocused instead on material base in economics"The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways. The point however is to change it." Earned his doctorate at the University of JenaCologne, Germany

Paris, France

Brussels, Belgium

London, EnglandMarx health declined in the last 10 years of his life. in 1881 both Marx and his wife became ill. In 1883 Marx was saddened by the loss of his daughter, and in March of that year Marx was found dead in his armchair.Who Provides Labour PowerWho owns the means of production?What's the relationship between the two?Capalist vs the prolotariatThe proletariat is formed by workers who work for capitalists usually for the lowest cost to the employer as possible. What does Capatalism look like today?Where have Marx' ideas been implemented?THE HUNGER GAMES VIEWED THROUGH MARX'S LENSESOCIAL &POLITICALPHILOSOPHY OF KARL MARXCapitalist: a wealthy person who uses money to invest in trade and industry for profit.

Karl Marx said that "Capitalism contains the seeds of its own destruction"Karl Marx believed that the Capitalist system could not last forever because eventually the proletariat would rise up in revolution. His theory was that Capitalists were digging their own grave.His writings were mostly a critique of the Capitalist system. Not a detailed instruction manual about how to mount a revolution and what should follow it. Our economic system is capitalism. Everything that we use in our daily lives is someone else's hard work. Many big corporation like Walmart, Nike and Apple are examples of big Capitalist corporations. These companies take advantage of many people usually in poorer countries. For example, Nike was exposed for using child labour to make soccer balls in Pakistan. The children were being underpaid, making enough to barely live while Nike is making billions of dollars. But the way the company sees it, the less we pay for labour the more profit we make.

In today's society over 1 billion people are underemployed or unemployed world wide, yet six of the wealthiest people combined are worth about 136 billion dollars. These six people have nearly more than everyone else will see in their lifetime

Karl marx believes that socialism will replace capitalism and will lead to a classless society turning it into a pure communism.

What are the hunger games?The labour power in our capitalist society is provided by the masses who are ordinary labourers. They sell their labour to the capitalists in exchange for a wage to meet their needs since they do not access to the means of production. Capitalists use their financial resources to set up the means of production (ex. factories) and hire workers to get the job done at the lowest cost to them. In order for a business to run, the one who owns the needs of production needs the ones who provide the labour power.The relationship between the two is usually one of exploitation. In the Hunger Games the elite live in the Capitol where all the wealth is concentrated. The people in the capitol own and control the means of production and rely on the labour of the people in the districts. The hunger games is an extreme example of class division and unequal distribution of wealth and power. The Capitol manages everything that goes on in the districts where the workers focus on one particular resource in every district (fishing, mining, lumber, etc.) The people in the districts do not have access to the means of production, so they trade their labour to earn their livelihood. They have limited choices to the kind of work they do. Marx RevolutionLike capitalism the economic system in the hunger games contains the seeds of its own destruction. The story takes place at the beginning of the districts revolution. An uprising to end the system that is similiar to what Marx proposed. Marx mainly talked about the capitalist system and what was wrong with it. His ideas on capatalism can be organized through three main questions:

Who provides labour power?Who owns the means of production?What is the relationship between the two?He believed that if an uprising were to happen, it could not happen by just one or a few people walking out on the system, because they could be easily replaced. Instead of a few people revolting, it would take all the labour power. A few people could not change the system, but a large mass can because ultimately the means of production relies on labour power. Although the world doesn't run how Marx believes it should, it does not mean his ideas have not been implemented. For example, Cuba. Cuba runs on the ideas of communism. The Cuban communist party was organized by Fidel Castro and others in 1965. Historically dating, communist activity begun in Cuba in 1923Theory of Historical MaterialismThe study of the transition of the socioeconomic system.This theory looks for the changes in developments in a human society in the means of producing the necessities in life. Also, the social class and the relationship between them.

Theory of HistoryThe theory consists of 6 stages which include:Primitive CommunismSlave SocietyFeudalismCapitalism SocialismCommunismPrimitive Communism-how humans first lived-everything was shared amongst the people- foods, jobs and belongings.-no one owned anythingSlave SocietyClass separation between masters and slavesSlaves being the dominant producing class controlled by mastersFeudalism-A king or a chief rules the people-give land to the nobles who rule the people for him-this develops the trade system leading to capitalism

CapitalismBusiness owner gets richer while workers do all the hard workThe rich gets richer while the poor stays poor

SocialismWorkers take control of the country and produce the neccesity for everyoneProfit is nonexistence, everyone benefits- including education and healthCommunism-Humanity works together for the improvement of everyone-Money cease to exist-everything is sharedAlienationMarx's theory of alienation talks about the fact that the workers don't have control over the money they make and the capitalists are alienating them from their own production. He believed that since the workers have lost control over their own production they are alienated from their human nature, which Marx understood to be free and productive activity He understood that human beings could not feel human under these conditions. Marx lived in the time where the industrial revolution was young. So a lot of people were coal miners or factory workers and were moving to the cities. Being alive in this time meant Marx was able to see the changes that he saw in society, and he ultimately didn't like what he saw. Marx believed that the political structure and the ways of society reflects on the economic activity.